


bet it's such a bitter pill

by lgbtbuck



Series: fictober 2018 [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fictober, M/M, Meet-Ugly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 12:07:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16197221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lgbtbuck/pseuds/lgbtbuck
Summary: fictober 18 prompt four: "will that be all?"





	bet it's such a bitter pill

**Author's Note:**

> "payback is a bad bitch, and baby im the baddest." -- bucky barnes

Bucky woke up with the full intention of it being a _good_ day _._ He was gonna make that protein smoothie his doctor recommended, then he was gonna go to the gym, then he was come back home and take a nice, relaxing shower and eat a hearty breakfast before work, and he would meet Sam after for a late lunch. A nice Friday to start off an even better weekend of relaxing and doing fuckall from the comfort of his couch.

But then that asshole had to come up to him at the gym, and ruin his day. Because Bucky can never win.

He was about to leave, too, just crunching out these squats, low weight kettlebells in his hands. His lower back still hurt, but his physical therapist told him he needed to rebuild the strength and sinew in his legs, after being on bed rest for so long after the car accident. Man, _fuck_ New York drivers, honestly.

So when Blondie McPerfect Pecs came up to him with flushed cheeks, Bucky wasn't really expecting to be pissed off at the interaction. But then the idiot had to open his mouth and say:

"You know, your form is all wrong. You're gonna hurt yourself. Probably mess up your back."

Bucky drops the kettlebells with a thud, because honestly, what the fuck. They nearly land on the guy's feet. Good. He rises to standing, and turns his glare on the guy. Bucky tried to ignore the fact that the guy was slightly taller than him, and had really, really blue eyes. Because he was pissed off.

"I don't know why you decided coming over here and giving your useless, entitled opinion to someone who didn't ask for it was a good idea, because I can promise you it fucking wasn't."

The guy stammers, "I — I was just —"

"Fuck you," Bucky spits, before the guy can finish, and stalks away. He didn't even get to finish his set, and his back is aching still because of it. He doesn't feel bad about hoping that guy falls off a fucking treadmill.

—

He's still mad about it eight hours later, when he meets Sam for lunch. And he spends the entire time they wait for a table ranting about it, because he tried to vent at work but Nat walked away in the middle of his tirade, which was to be expected, but Bucky's still upset by it.

He can tell he should shut up, by the grateful look on Sam's face when they finally get seated, and the way he sticks his nose deep into his menu, even though there's only two pages of items. But Bucky keeps going, at least until Sam lifts his face enough to glare at him over the top of the menu.

"Okay, okay, fine, sorry," Bucky relents, and picks up his own menu. "I'm mostly just pissed because my back still hurts. Like, a lot." 

Sam's eyes soften at him, and he turns down his menu to look at Bucky fully.

"Which of course wouldn't have happened if I never got in that stupid fucking accident," Bucky mutters, and now sticks _his_ nose in his menu.

He can feel Sam staring at him, too, which is why he keeps his face down. He doesn't really feel like having that conversation again.

So he doesn't notice their waiter has arrived until he hears: "Hi, I'm Steve, I'll be taking care of you to — oh, crap."

Bucky looks up, and what he sees enrages him, on a deeply personal level, because that is in fact, the asshole from the gym, dressed in a stupid white button up and black bow tie, black apron tied around his waist, and defeated expression on his face.

Bucky glares even more, making the guy squirm, and wring his hands around his order pad.

He can feel Sam looking between the two curiously, and then he groans and says, "Don't tell me this is —" 

"Yup," Bucky says, venom in his voice, still glaring at the guy. Steve. What a stupid fucking name. (He won't say that out loud, though, because Sam will less than helpfully point out that his own name is, in fact, Bucky.) So he waves a hand over the table and says, "Sam, meet the asshole from the gym; asshole from the gym, meet my friend Sam. 

The guy nearly squeaks, cheeks and neck going bright red. "Um," he glances over at Sam. "Hi?"

"Dude," Sam sighs, wincing.

Steve seems to regret his entire life, but definitely not as much as Bucky regrets picking this restaurant.

"I can, uh, get you a different waiter?" Steve suggests, and _wow_ , he's not even going to apologize. Bucky is about to tell him to yes, please, fuck right off, but then he realizes something:

Steve is his waiter. That means he's at Bucky's beck and call; he's getting paid to do whatever Bucky, the customer, says. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

"No need," Bucky says, offering a sweet, sarcastic smile. "We're all adults here. Hakuna matata, you know?"

Steve blinks. "Uh, right."

"Right," Bucky says. "So, I'll take a Coke, please. With lemon."

It takes Steve a moment, and he just stares blankly at Bucky, but then he writes down Bucky's drink in his order pad. Then turns to Sam, who orders a water. Lame, Bucky thinks, though he asks for one, too.

When Steve leaves, Sam puts his head in his hands. "Why do I get the feeling you were completely bullshitting that 'hakuna matata' thing?"

Bucky just grins, and leans back in his seat triumphantly.

Steve comes back and sets their drinks down. He did as requested, Coke with a lemon sitting on the top, but Bucky's still gonna fuck with him. He takes a sip.

"Excuse me," Bucky says, pushing his cup away with a single finger. "This isn't diet."

Steve blinks at him, face impassive, but Bucky can see the annoyance in his eyes. "Right," he says. "Of course, sorry. I'll be right back with your _Diet_ Coke."

"Thanks," Bucky says, smiling widely _._

Sam's still shaking his head when Steve returns.

"Here you go," Steve says, polite smile on his face.

Bucky looks up at him. "Thanks, but I wanted the lemon on the side. Look, now there's seeds in it."

Steve breathes hard through his nose. "Of course," he says again, and goes back to the kitchen.

When he asks if they want appetizers later, Bucky makes an obnoxious "hmmmm" sound as he peruses the menu, for a longer time than necessary, before clapping the menu against the table and saying he doesn't want one. Steve looks ready to explode, and Bucky's only just getting started.

Bucky knows exactly what he wants for lunch, but that doesn't mean he's not gonna make it complicated for Steve.

"Yeah, I'll take the California BLT," he says, after Steve takes Sam's simple order of lemon chicken and rice, and Steve starts scribbling Bucky's down, shoulders hunched up to his ears. Then, "Do you guys have sourdough?"

Steve glances up at him from his order pad. "Um. Yes."

"Hmm, you know what, never mind, actually do you have white bread?"

"Yes. That's what the sandwich comes on," Steve tells him, nearly through gritted teeth.

"Oh," Bucky frowns. "Then do you have country bread?"

Steve closes his eyes. "Yes."

"OK, perfect," Bucky says. "I'll take it on that. And then also, can I have ham instead of bacon? 

"Sure," Steve replies, still scribbling.

"And no tomatoes."

Steve's pen hesitates, but still scribbles away.

"And instead of lettuce I'll take arugula."

Steve keeps writing, hand noticeably clenched tighter around the pen.

"And no mayo, either. Do you guys have hard boiled eggs?"

Steve actually looks confused, there. "We have eggs, and the capability to boil water, so yes, I suppose." 

Bucky's not a complete asshole, and doesn't want to ruin the chef's day for this, so he doesn't go through with it. "No need to be snippy," he says. "But never mind on the eggs. And I'll add provolone."

Steve huffs. "Okay," and he writes it down. "Will that be all?"

Bucky looks over the menu again, for no reason. Then looks back up to Steve with an annoyingly cheery smile. "Yes, thank you."

Steve practically yanks the menus out of his hand when he takes them from Bucky, and stomps away off towards the kitchen. It makes Bucky disgustingly proud of himself.

"Bucky," Sam chides.

"Don't worry, Sammy, everything's going great."

Sam rolls his eyes heavenward, but they do have a nice lunch after that. And Bucky's sandwich is delicious, so he thinks fucking with Steve was even more worth it.

Steve comes back later to ask if they want dessert, and Bucky orders the walnut brownie with vanilla ice cream, and just as Steve is about to walk away he says: "Oh, wait, shit. I just remembered I'm allergic to nuts."

Steve looks like he wants to kill him. Bucky doesn't blame him.

"So would you like a different dessert?" 

"You know what, I shouldn't. I worked so hard at the gym earlier, wouldn't want to waste it on all those calories," he says, pointedly, and the tips of Steve's ears pink. "Besides, my physical therapist would be so mad at me."

Steve's eyes widen, and his mouth drops open a little bit. Good, Bucky thinks. That's what he wanted.

But he doesn't want Steve to say anything, so he doesn't give him the chance. "So, I'm good, thanks."

Steve ducks his head and walks away to get the checks. 

Sam sucks his teeth at Bucky from across the table. "Man, you really didn't wanna let him off easy, did you?"

"No?" Bucky says, furrowing his eyebrows. "He ruined my day, so I'm gonna ruin his. An eye for an eye, and all that."

"Yeah, but he probably didn't mean to ruin your day, whereas you're purposefully going out of your way to make his life miserable," Sam counters.

Bucky scoffs. "Then it should serve as a lesson to him. He should know better than to go around trying to tell people how to exercise like he's the king of the gym."

Sam stares at him. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Bucky grins. "Why thank you."

Steve comes back with the checks, and just drops them off without saying anything before immediately walking away again.

"This is the saddest thing I've ever seen," Sam comments, looking after him. Bucky chews his lip but ignores him.

Sam signs his check and then leaves, because he has an appointment after this. Bucky lingers a little longer, mostly because he can't find his credit card, but leaves soon after as well. He also leaves a 25% tip, because like he said, he's not _that_ much of an asshole. And he knows being a waiter sucks as it is, so.

He goes to the bathroom before, though, and as he's walking back through the restaurant, he notices their table is already cleared, being cleaned for the next patrons. Bucky frowns. But slightly, only slightly. 

When he comes out of the restaurant, there's fucking Steve standing off to the side, rolling up his shirt sleeves. Of course he just got off of work, of course.

Steve seems to notice him at the same time. "Oh. Um, hello again."

Bucky turns to walk away.

"Wait!" 

Bucky stops, and glares at him for the tenth time that day. "What?" he spits. 

Steve looks sheepish, and picks at his fingernails. "Um. I'm sorry, about what I said. In the gym. I felt really bad after I said it, I didn't mean to — I didn't know you were in PT. I feel like an asshole." 

Bucky, fuck him, can't even stay mad, because the guy looks genuinely apologetic, stupid blue eyes downcast and sincere. Bucky breathes deep. "Thanks," he eventually says. Then, "I'm sorry I ruined your shift." 

"Oh no, it's okay. I deserved it," Steve says, and looks like he fucking means it, Jesus. Then he swallows. "Um, I only said it because I had seen you there a few times before, and — and wanted to talk to you but I couldn't figure out what to say and I guess I panicked." 

_Oh, my God_ , Bucky thinks. That's so fucking cute. Dammit.

Then he starts laughing, despite his best efforts not to. Steve frowns more. "Wait, wait," Bucky starts, trying to keep himself together. "Were you trying to flirt with me, Steve?"

Steve grows even more red, and rubs a hand over the back of his neck. "Um, yeah," he admits quietly.

" _Oh, my God_ ," Bucky says aloud this time. " _Steve_."

Steve throws his hands to the side. "I — I don't know! Jeez, I just — my friends told me to go for it, and I — ugh, I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone now."

He makes to walk away, and Bucky realizes he actually doesn't want that.

"Steve," he repeats. And Steve turns his head around to face Bucky, still sheepish. Bucky smiles, and raises an eyebrow in what he hopes is an inviting manner. "Do you wanna go grab dessert with me?"

Steve's mouth drops open again, only for a moment, before he squares his shoulders, and nods his stupid blonde head. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, okay."

—

They go to a nearby café, and Steve orders while Bucky snags them a table. Bucky's only request for the dessert was that it had chocolate in it. 

Steve follows through, and comes back with a gigantic chocolate peanut butter swirl brownie, and two glasses of water.

"Thanks," Bucky says, and picks up his fork. He spears a piece of the brownie off and brings it to his mouth.

"Wait!" Steve shouts, seeming to realize something, and waving his hands frantically. "You can't eat that."

Bucky is perplexed. He drops his hand. "Uh, why?"

"Because you're allergic to nuts?" Steve says, head cocked to the side.

Bucky blinks. Then laughs.

"Oh," Steve says. "You were just messing with me. I see."

"Yeah," Bucky says, chuckling. "Sorry." 

Steve nods, and it grows kind of awkward after, both of them just eating the brownie in silence.

"I am allergic to blueberries, though," Bucky says, because he has to say something.

"Oh, you're not missing out. Blueberries aren't all that great," Steve says, waving a hand flippantly.

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better about it?" Bucky asks, smirking at Steve.

Steve looks down at the plate. "Maybe," he mutters, and shoves a piece of brownie in his mouth.

Bucky laughs, and keeps laughing for the rest of the afternoon, both at Steve and with Steve. It's a nice time, nicer than Bucky was expecting to have. They end up staying at the café until after dark, having lost track of time talking. When they leave, Bucky gives Steve his number, and says goodbye, then Steve hesitates for a second, and before Bucky can ask about it, Steve darts in to give Bucky a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Buck," he says quietly, sweetly, and turns away. Bucky can't help but smile at his retreating frame.

Looks like Bucky had a good day after all.


End file.
